Amy Winehouse Autopsy Confirms ‘Death By Misadventure’…Is That A Thing?

A new investigation into the death of Amy Winehouse has been completed, and it has confirmed that she died of accidental alcohol poisoning. If you’re wondering why it took a year and a half for these details to be released after Amy’s death on July 23rd, 2011, it’s because this is the second of two investigations. The results of the first had to be rejected when the original assistant deputy coroner, Suzanne Greenaway, was forced to step down after it was discovered she was unqualified, having not completed a full five years as a registered lawyer in the United Kingdom before being promoted to the position by her husband. So yeah. There’s a lot of drama in this soap opera.

But now we have the official results, and they actually what was discovered in the first investigation. Amy died of accidental alcohol poisoning, as I mentioned before…which in London falls under the category of ‘death by misadventure’. Should…that be a term that we use on a scientific basis? It sounds pretty swashbuckle-y to be a part of a coroner’s vocabulary, but what do I know. If I’m interpreting this literally, it sounds like the victim fell into a giant Candyland board and never came out. Even now, she roams the Chocolate Swamp, shuffling her feet and singing through her discography on an endless loop. Okay. I’m sorry. That was in poor taste. But that’s what this terminology does to me! Death by misadventure?? She got alcohol poisoning, not kidnapped by a murderous cat with a peg leg! Oh my god what is wrong with me. Okay. Here are the actual details of her case.

Dr. Shirley Radcliffe, who is the interim coroner while they try to find someone to officially fill the position, gave a verdict of ‘death by misadventure’, “meaning the death is judged to be accidental, with no law broken and no criminal negligence involved.” Per Dr. Radcliffe’s report:

“[Winehouse] had a history of excessive alcohol ingestion for some years and was under the care of a number of physicians. She had had a period of abstinence from alcohol for 12-13 days in July but a few days before her death she began to drink alcohol again. Following her death the police attended and deemed the death to be non-suspicious. Toxicological analysis revealed a level of alcohol commonly associated with fatality.”

And according to CNN:

“A pathologist told Greenaway’s court that Winehouse’s blood-alcohol level was 416 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood. The level considered lethal is 350 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood, and the legal limit to drive in Britain is 80 milligrams of alcohol. The pathologist found no traces of tablets in Winehouse’s stomach and said her organs appeared to be normal.”

So it was alcohol pure and simple that caused this. No crack, no pills, no syringes, no nothing, just an extreme overdose of alcohol. That’s all it takes, you guys. Especially for someone who had so openly struggled with drugs for her entire career, I’ll admit that I didn’t think it could be something as ‘benign’ as alcohol. Just goes to show you that you never know. Take care of yourselves, you guys. And…stay away from open children’s books or Mary Poppins-esque chalk drawings. I’m terrible.